Wordless Wednesday: What We've Been Seeing

Red-breasted Sapsucker

Western Bluebirds

Yellow-rumped Warblers

Pileated Woodpecker

Mountain Chickadee (at the nestbox!)

We're expecting our first real winter storm of the season. We think we're ready for 6 to 10 inches of snow. Wheeee!

First of all...

...thank you so much for making the Santa Cruz Lighthouse picture number one. I think that means I've won (I have a hard time accepting such realities), and really I couldn't have done it without you. I keep thinking of Sally Field and that awful moment that has become so often parodied. I won't say, "You like me, you really like me." That's not what she said actually, but close enough to make us all a little bit queasy. I wonder how much better it would have sounded if she had said, "I love you, I really love you." That's how I feel at the moment.

When I was in fifth grade and a pipsqueak of a person, not more than 4"10" tall, I represented my elementary school at the county track meet in the standing broadjump category. I was smaller than all of the competition. I lost big time that day. While the other girls were jumping over seven feet, I didn't even clear six. I was good for my size, but I was little in the world.

Today makes up for all of that.

I don't broadjump anymore, but I do take pictures. The one above is a Red-breasted Sapsucker that tried four trees in about two minutes before flying away.

This Is Almost Everything

I had a post all ready for last Friday, but something happened. Not anything dramatic or in particular, just a quiet realization that what ever we have to say about the world doesn't really matter, so we might as well just go quiet. So we did. We still feel like being quiet. Not exactly the best thing for blogging, but that's just the way it goes. So here are a few things we've seen lately. It's not much, but it's almost everything. We're okay, we just think the world is in such seriously bad shape that it takes our breath and our voices away.
This fly (we think it's a fly, it's got a single set of wings) was found dead, but in stunningly perfect condition. It's been a few days, and look at it. How it died like this, absolutely pristine, and lying at the threshold of the greenhouse is anyone's guess. We're keeping it.

While I was weeding in the new fall carrot bed, I noticed this perfect jawbone among the leaves. Roger thinks it came from the compost. That makes sense. I'm sure someone out there can identify which rodent this set of little teeth helped keep fed for a while. Check out the lines on that palm. Please feel free to read and tell me my fortune.

This caterpillar was walking up our window. I couldn't resist the view of its underside. Those great feet, the little false (they are false, aren't they?) eyes, and the strands of dust or web around its head, the telltale signs of where its been.

A red-breasted sapsucker in our willow tree. First time. We could hear it tap tap tapping, as it moved around the tree. A lovely faraway sound.

Roger says he'll do a post on Wednesday, an update on his health report and the amazing datil pepper harvest. It's the little things, and it's all we've got.